Thursday, February 19, 2015

The Son Did Not Glorify Himself


“No one takes this honor upon himself, but one who is called of God,
as in the case of Aaron.  Likewise, even Christ did not glorify himself
to be made high priest; but He who said unto him,
‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’
Hebrews 5:4-5

Dear friends, “Come, and let us reason together.”  If either of the doctrines of “the Holy Trinity” or “Oneness” was true, if the Father and the Son were, one way or the other, the same Being, then the man of God who wrote the book of Hebrews would never have thought to write the above verses.


Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The Honorable Thing


“He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper,
but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.”
Proverbs 28:13


There is nothing honorable about talking about how bad you are, or have been.  There is no honor in talking about your sin.  Confessing sin without repenting of it is the flesh’s subtle way of boasting about its power.  True honor is found in believing the gospel, confessing your sin, and then turning away from it; humble repentance before God is the honorable thing.  When you kneel in contrition at Jesus’ feet, you have done a truly honorable thing, and in doing so, you bring honor to God and His Son, through whom all sin is forgiven.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Merciful without Sin


“Every high priest . . . is able to deal gently with the ignorant and misguided
because he, too, is encompassed with weakness.”
Hebrews 5:1–2

When we know ourselves, we are merciful to others.  Until we come to know ourselves, however, we usually are not so merciful.  People who are proud of how good they have always been are the least merciful and the most impatient with those who fail.  One of my earliest feelings about the Lord was wonder, when I thought about how merciful and patient he is, and yet, he never sinned.  How did Jesus come to be so incredibly forgiving without first being humbled by failures of his own
What Jesus told his disciples really is true: “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”